Indian men shock Olympic champions Belgium 5-4

Belgium: Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh saved a penalty stroke in an exhilarating shoot out after making some breathtaking saves in regulation time as the Indian men’s team stunned Olympic champions Belgium 5-4 in the first match of the two-legged FIH Pro Hockey League here on Saturday.

The Indian team was down 1-3 with just eight minutes left in the match but made it 3-3 to force a penalty shoot out. Sreejesh foiled an attempt from Alexander Hendrickx, who was taking his third PS, when the shoot out was locked 4-4 and Akashdeep Singh found the net to make it 5-4 for the Tokyo Games bronze medallists.

Sreejesh, as usual, was brilliant under the bar, foiling a number of attempts from the hosts throughout the match but his two saves in the final quarter proved to be crucial. The eventful first quarter ended in a goalless stalemate with Sreehesh doing a fantastic job under the bar, making two saves. It was India who had the first opportunity to open the scoring but both the short corners went abegging as the home goalie foiled those attempts with his rock solid defence. Akashdeep too fluffed a shot near the goalpost which on any other day he would have flicked inside the post.

However, early in the second quarter, India found the net when Abhishek’s shot rebounded off the custodian’s leg and Shamsher Singh (18’) tapped the high ball into the net after it came off the post.

Belgium found the equaliser through Cedric Charlier (21’), who deflected a pass from Nicolas de Kerpel in lightening quick time. It was Arthur van Doren, who pushed it towards Kerpel from the left flank. Both the teams got a penalty corner each but did not utilise.

Women go down fighting

A rusty-looking Indian women’s hockey team gave away possession quite easily a number of times before putting up a fight in the fourth quarter but eventually lost 1-2 to Belgium in its first of the two-legged FIH Pro League tie here on Saturday. An attacking start to the match saw both the teams creating opportunities in the opening minutes, but it was Belgium who got better as they took the lead through captain Nelen Barbara in the third minute.